The Sugar Bar

The weather has gotten a little worse in the past week because of a rather sudden and unexpected advent of haze originating from Sumatra. This equatorial heat, an intense humidity that is doing my hair no real good at all and this thick, spicy and polluted air? It’s a recipe for heat exhaustion, falling ill, itchy throats and general crabbiness. In addition to that, I’ve recently been having a serial bout of bircher muesli craving but that’s a good thing. Normally, my cravings frustrate and tempt me into tipping over into sinful indulgence and latenight snacking. But this time, them cravings are a sign of my body attempting to make itself feel better and adjust to its surroundings (that’s what I’m telling myself so don’t try to convince me otherwise). Let’s chuck it all up to acclimatizing. That should explain all the cravings for ice cream, gelatos, iced teas and watermelon!

Bircher muesli feels like a summer version of warm oats porridge. Served cold, with seasonal fruit and sweetened with a bit of honey or golden syrup, it’s a simple and fibre-rich breakfast. A great start to one’s day, it’s a ridiculously healthy brekkie which charges up your batteries. The combination of cold and fruit is also refreshing and delightful.

The preparation is dead easy. A head-start the night before – leave the oats to soak in milk overnight which makes them easier to digest. Also, the softer texture from soaking makes it a bit more palatable for those uncomfortable with consuming rolled oats raw. Prepare a medley of seasonal fruits and if you’re a nut and seed feign, you’re in for a treat. A great excuse to whack it all in.

And here comes my big ‘BUT’. My family knows I like some weird food. They know I like eating tofu straight out of its plastic packet. They know hunger can make me resort to odd combinations of edible things. And they know I love my fruit, yoghurt and oats. But sometimes, they just can’t eat the same things I do. And bircher muesli they do not like. Since when did it become an acquired taste?! Nevertheless, I’ve always known some people can be funny with fibre just like kids are with wholemeal and multiseeded.

Maybe there are ways to change their minds about this champion breakfast.

Recipe by Gordon Ramsay taken from Timesonline.co.uk here. Serves 4.

Bircher Muesli
Ingredients

200g/2 cups rolled oats
350ml apple juice or semi-skimmed milk
1 red apple (Pink Lady or Fuji apple)
125g natural or low-fat plain yoghurt
seasonal fresh fruit, to top
dried nuts, fruit and muesli, to garnish (optional)
runny honey, to drizzle and sweeten to taste

Place the oats in a bowl and cover with enough apple juice or milk to
moisten them. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill for an hour, or preferably overnight, in the fridge.

Peel the apple if you prefer, then coarsely grate (discarding the pips) and stir into the oats. Stir in enough yoghurt to reach a desired consistency. You could also add more milk, yoghurt or apple juice to loosen the mixture if it is too thick. I’ve added a couple of tablespoons of orange juice for flavour and texture.

Serve the muesli in individual bowls topped with the seasonal berries of your choice or a sliced banana, then drizzle with a little honey.

Sprinkle with toasted nuts, granola or muesli or even some dried berries, etc. Customize it to your taste! The variations are countless.

A delicious chocolate cupcake sponge made using creamy Toblerone chocolate and bursting with chewy honey-almond nougat pieces, this latest creation from LOLA’s is finished with a heavenly white chocolate ganache and topped with a generous chunk of Toblerone chocolate.

It is getting colder by the day and when the sun sets at half 4 in the afternoon, I can’t help but think: alright, time to put on my lounging socks, pull on a woolly hat and watch Friends whilst enjoying a mug of hot chocolate. Give a few weeks, and I’ll start feeling Christmas which makes me think of the Christmas of 3 years ago when I sat in my bestie’s sitting room as we ate our weight in Toblerone chocolates in front of the telly. It was true style. True indulgence. And ultimate satisfaction – honey-flavoured chocolate with chewy crispy nougat bits. Dip it in a steaming cuppa tea and let it melt into an even milkier deliciousness? It simply borders on perfection.

It might be too early to be chatting Christmas but I’ve been thinking Toblerone a lot lately. Don’t you tell me my chocolate cravings stem from a lack of protein or some other scientific nutritionist crap. Christmas has just always made me wish for chocolate. Cold wintry nights make me want to indulge myself more. And I couldn’t be happier when I realized that LOLA’s Flavour of the Month for November was just that – TOBLERONE! The cupcakes were speaking to me again. After all that red velvet indulgence, you’d think I’d be on a cupcake sabbatical. Nah-ah. It wasn’t happening. Not bloody likely.

If you’ve been following, you’d know I recently posted about cupcakes in LOLA’s Cupcakes: Return of the Red Velvet. LOLA’s produces one of the loveliest and most chic cupcakes and it’s great how I can get them so easily now being in London. But if you don’t, panicky not as you can order them online too, customized or not, which is great for any sort of party or special occasion you are planning. They’re baked fresh daily at LOLA’s Primrose Hill bakery and I hear they’re baked throughout the day so you can be sure that the cupcake you’re holding onto is at its peak and ready to be consumed (asap). It’s recommended that you consume it within the day but you’d be happy to know that they wither none too quickly. I kept mine in a fridge for 2 days and on the 3rd day, the icing was as good as it was on day 1 and the cake soft and fluffy, if not a little drier.

LOLA’s take pride in using the best ingredients possible like Madagascar vanilla, Guittard chocolate, Philadelphia cream cheese, South African “Marie Biscuits”, and real butter, eggs and milk from local dairies. Getting the good stuff from all over the world and combining that with local produce makes these cupcakes very cosmopolitan, very London and very appealing to a globe-trotter like me.

When these Toblerone babies were first launched, they were sold out by mid-day. Thus, I went home empty-handed, well almost. I did pick meself up a red velvet. But you can imagine how disappointed I was! No Toblerone cupcakes to taste? Gutted! And then deadlines got in the way and readings got a little crazy. Soon after, LOLA’s went poof! in my head and I admit, I did just forget about cupcakes for a while. And then the dastard cravings set in and Emma from LOLA’s sent me a little message asking after me and if I liked the new flavour.

Bang. Toblerone cupcake note scribbled into my diary. I even went the extra way to plan my whole day around the visit to the Selfridges cupcake bar. Dedicated huh? Yes, I am a proud Cupcake Trooper so of course I make the effort.

So anyway, enough beating around the bush. How were these cupcakes then?! Bloody good. I bought a box of them (£2.25/cupcake or £2 online) for the flatmate and neighbours and really had to safeguard these babies on the tube home. Seriously, manic crowd on the Central line. Sya, a No.1 fan of LOLA’s, commented it was the best she’d tasted from their whole selection. The flatmate thought it was just delicious. I couldn’t agree more. The cupcake is supposedly made with Toblerone chocolate and I did get a very strong milk chocolate flavour and bits of nougat I, for some strange reason, thought were chocolate chips at first. They crisped up when baked and gave a little crunch which was lovely. Kind of like chocolate chip cupcake but better. I was expecting the cake to taste just chocolate. Plain boring chocolate. But I do believe LOLA’s held up to the Toblerone flavour as there was just a slight edge to this. A little honey-ish, a little hot chocolate-ish.

The icing, a white chocolate ganache, was superb. I was more impressed with that actually and coming from me, I think that means something (not that I’m a great food critic) – it’s just I DON’T LIKE WHITE CHOCOLATE. But I do love ganache so I was totally willing to eat it anyway. A ganache, used as a filling or topping, is simply cream and chocolate mixed together in a 2:1 ratio or not, depending on how it’s used – light or heavy. This ganache was whipped beautifully such that it was quite voluminous and impressive on the cupcake but very airy light to eat. Try to get a little bit on your fingertip and it just glides off the cupcake – smooth, creamy, soft and sublime. I might have gotten it wrong but I thought the white chocolate had a nice tinge of vanilla? Or probably just that the cream was really good and it sent me reeling a little. Very very very good ganache! The cake was impressive but not as impressive as the topping. And happy chappy me saved the triangle chunk of Toblerone for last. Yum.

Want a better look at the ganache? Here. I’d eat that ganache out of a pot if someone put that in front of me. I thought I’d never say it, that I’d eat a cupcake without icing, but I’d be happy to leave the cake behind and just lick the icing off a spoon. Oh no. What has LOLA’s done to me?

And it’s not just the taste of these cupcakes that’s so good, the recently opened cupcake bar in Selfridges is tops – service and interior. Beautifully designed, you sorta feel like you’re in a fairytale café/perfect back garden of a Stepford wife. I was met with smiles from the sales lady behind the counter and she was a joy to chat with. Totally made my day after a stressful session at uni. We chatted about the new flavour, about summer and about looking pasty in the winter. There! Instant connection and me, a satisfied customer and I hadn’t even eaten anything yet! I love it when the sales staff actually bother to connect with you and make you feel special. I know it can be hard, since I’ve had a few years of retail experience, especially in the cake business. But stressful or not, a smile or asking after the customer can really make one’s day and LOLA’s got that x-factor in customer service.

I was starving having had no lunch. I was pretty knackered as well and badly needed a sitdown so I got myself a regular Apple Cinnamon Muffin (£2.30). This was one out of 3 flavours, the other two being Quattro (4 cheeses) and the other something I can’t recall. I’m in love with the muffin. It’s a good size so enough for a hungry ghost like me. It was very moist and bouncy, fluffy but pretty solid to eat. I define a good muffin one that has the perfect balance between moistness and baked bounce, so it’s not gooey and dense but has air-ed enough during the baking process to give you that light bounce without being too dry. A very generous helping of raisins and apple pieces in the muffin. The apple bits are like that in apple pie with its sweet gooey melting flesh. Loads of cinnamon and so flavourful! I loved its rustic look and that awesome crispy sugar crust top. One of the BEST muffins I’ve eaten in a while and I have had quite a bit in these couple of weeks and they were all either too soft, or too crumbly, or too wet and gooey, or just a little bland. LOLA’s again impressed me and didn’t let me down one bit.

So I’m a very happy person today. Might be the sugar that’s gone to my head but my 2nd affair with LOLA’s has proved a lot better than the 1st, not that the 1st encounter with the Red Velvet wasn’t good. There’s love at first sight, and then there’s love at first sight. And if every visit just keeps getting better and better, I am just at a lost for words. Too thrilled for words I suppose. Next flavour I want – Lemon!

But I’m floating now. Feeling a little chubby but great nonetheless. I might have to go on a detox after all the feasting I’ve been doing of late. Pah! Not till after the BBC Good Food Show this Saturday though where I shall be meeting the lovely Sunita from Sunita’s World for the first time, among other awesome foodbloggers. I’m excited and a little nervous. I’m sure the show’s gonna be great and there’s much to see and much to eat and buy! Choi Time teas will also be at the show so I’ll definitely be stopping over to stock up on my usual. Whey.

Enough. I’m happy. I’m really full. And I believe you’ve just about had enough of my chatter. So goodnight y’all. Go getchaself some cupcake and nom-nom away. LOLA’s comes in the regular sized cupcakes and the mini ones. Both are cute. And both are très delightful.

LOLA’s Cupcake Bar
Selfridges
Foodhall, 400 Oxford Street, W1C 2BU
mon-sat 9.30am-9pm | sun 11.30am – 6pm

Tel.: 0207 483 3394 (LOLA’s order line)
Web: http://www.lolas-kitchen.co.uk

A very long time ago, a dazed darling decided to make summer berry crumble (check the archives). But by some supernatural and unfortunate twitch of the hand, she bashed the crumb topping in such that it formed a flat surface with random nobbly bits and crack lines, that resembling the parched grounds of a desert. It was like she’d been hypnotized and only came to realize her mistake right before baking them. What a ditz. She never got to photograph or document the subsequent (and finally, geeez, took her a damn while – successful) crumble attempts.

But. WHEY! Here it is. Another successful apple crumble. And flip. Isn’t it one of the easiest, no brainer, no-recipe things to make? How the heck did I go wrong ages ago? Well – and here I’d like to add one of the longest sighs in the world – strange things happen to me. I’m a strange person of wacky circumstances. I take pride in my quirkiness. I can carry out intelligent conversations, hold my own ground when it comes to cussing and dirty jokes with the boys of my crew. But sometimes I’m just totally not with it. And pardon moi, but if I’m stressed in the kitchen too, things get awful. If I’m in a daze, the food begins to look a little funny.

Today’s a public holiday, it being Singapore’s 44th National Day yesterday; and it’s wonderful to see families out strolling about, shopping, slurping up cones of melting ice cream, etc. It’s awesome. Loving the relaxed state of mind I’ve been in all day! To match this lazy, rainy day, Mum decided to prepare quite the autumn dish: takikomi gohan (mixed rice) with one of my favourites – pumpkin and shimeji miso soup! Honestly, I was looking forward to getting away with not helping. I’d just had ice cream for lunch and a pot of very lovely dragon pearl & rose oil tea. The body was telling me to jump back into bed and get sucked into the seductive land of sleep. Damn those ideas to the darkest corners of a rottin refrigerator!!

Mum gave me the dessert task. But I was lazy so all the fancy stuff when flying out the window and I stuck with the all-time favourite, rustic crumble pudding. And yes, no other fancy fruit to marry with the apple. Just apples, cinnamon and some granola because Mum was kicking up a fuss about pudding being well plain. Women!

Everytime I think apple crumble, I think of Hannah’s mother’s crumble. She honestly makes the best crumble: apple, rhubarb, plum. They’re all good. I don’t know how she does it but she’s a crumble goddess. There must be some sort of weird secret or trick of hand or it might be spiked. But whatever it is, it’s love at first sight with her crumble. I’d like to, however, stand up for my own cute crumbles (is there a plural to that?) and declare that my own mother loved it. And that says a lot because she’s not a pudding person and definitely not a pudding-made-by-own-daughter sorta person.

So, yay. Happy birthday Singapore. And cheers to finally getting the dessert-spoon thumbs-up from my own mother. Apple crumble, I love you.

Granola Apple Crumble
Ingredients

2 medium cooking apples, cut into chunks (you may peel them if you prefer)
1/2 cup granola
50g brown sugar
1 tbs plain flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the crumble topping:

1 cup flour
1/4-1/2 cup granola
1/4-1/2 cup unrefined golden caster sugar (depending on your preference)
3 tbs unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks

I served these in ramekins but you can use a square baking dish.
Grease ramekins and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180d Celsius.

To prepare the crumb topping, sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour. Lift and toss the mixture as you rub until the mixture begins to resemble crumbs. Don’t over crumb it as I like to have big and small chunks of crumb rather than an evenly crumbly one. Stir in the sugar and granola.

In a small bowl, toss the apple chunks with 1 tbs flour.
Spoon 2 tbs of granola into the bottom of each ramekin and even it out. Then spoon in the apples and pour over them the brown sugar and cinnamon.

Now top with the crumb topping. Just pour it on without fussing too much with it. Placing the ramekins on a cookie tray, bake in the oven for 40-45mins til the crumb topping is golden brown.

Serve with custard, fresh cream or vanilla ice cream. Delish.